With UK developer Ninja Theory working on a brand new Sony PlayStation 4 IP, Hellblade, fans of the studio’s Sony PlayStation 3 game Heavenly Sword are finally getting something new. While it’s not a sequel to the beloved action game, it’s a new CGI origin story that has been designed to expand the story with film sequels down the line. The movie features the voices of Anna Torv, Alfred Molina and Thomas Jane. The Blu-ray and DVD launched this week from Cinedigm, leaving it up to fans to dictate more linear content.

This marks the first of multiple CGI movie adaptations from Blockade Entertainment, which is also working on a Ratchet & Clank movie with Insomniac Games. David Wohl, vice president of production at Blockade Entertainment and producer of the Heavenly Sword CGI movie, talks about adapting the game into a new entertainment property in this exclusive interview.

Why did you choose Heavenly Sword for a movie adaptation?

When we look for video game properties that we’d like to develop into feature animated films, there are always several criteria that we look at. First, does it have compelling characters and a story that, if developed into a feature, an audience would want to see Every game has its fans, but our goal is to create a film that will be enjoyed by those fans as well as those who have never heard of the game.

With a strong, charismatic reluctant hero in Nariko, and the vicious, malevolent despot Bohan, as well as an array of colorful costars representing Nariko’s clan as well as her enemies, we felt that Heavenly Sword definitely fit the bill. And with its vast library of beautiful designs and environments, as well as richly detailed CG models created by WETA, it fit our other most important criterion — being able to use existing material to reduce the pre-production cost, thereby enabling us to create quality animation at a lower cost. This was especially important for Heavenly Sword, which, as our first film, needed to be created within very stringent budget guidelines.

How did you work with the developer on this film?

In the early stages of production, we were constantly in touch with [developer] Ninja Theory and Sony Computer Entertainment as we began to develop the story of the film. They were extremely helpful, giving us backstory on all the characters and helping to guide the vision of the story. They had given much thought to where the characters would go after their story (if a sequel was ever to be created) and they were very forthcoming with this information, allowing us to seed our film with some of these ideas. Of course, like any film development process, there were times along the way when our story needed to diverge from the game story for one reason or another — and whenever this happened, our partners were supportive of our choices, and were always helpful in figuring out solutions to any story questions that arose.

 

What will fans of the game find new from watching this movie?

First, I just want to say that when we chose to focus on developing existing video game properties into feature films, we were well aware of the stigma associated with many of these films. There’s no need to list them here, as I’m sure everyone can think of many examples of films of this type that failed for one reason or another. In analyzing this fact, we found that, with very few exceptions, the filmmakers were unable to capture the essence of what made the game successful in the first place, and because of that, they often lost the support of the fans of the game, which, to us, is unacceptable.

Obviously we want the film to be accessible to everyone — not just Heavenly Sword game fans — but at the same time, we never want to alienate the core audience. So, when we were developing Heavenly Sword, we were very sensitive to the legions of fans of the game, but at the same time, we didn’t just want to regurgitate the story they already knew. So, as I hinted at above, there are definitely areas where we took some liberties with Nariko’s journey and the backstory of the Heavenly Sword, adding new twists that will have fans of the game definitely curious about where it’s headed, but we’re confident that they’ll have as much fun watching the tale as we did making it, and in the end, we feel that they’ll enjoy the new places where we took the characters, while paying homage to the elements that made the game a success.

What is your CGI process for bringing Heavenly Sword to film?

We were very fortunate with Heavenly Sword because even though our budget was considerably lower than the usual animated film, we had the benefit of an extremely rich assortment of characters and environments that were already built and nearly ready to be used. As with all films of this type, we still needed to increase the detail of the assets, but they started from such a strong place, the work wasn’t as costly and time consuming as it would’ve needed to be if the assets were of lesser quality. Once they were ready, we worked with a combination of motion capture and keyframe animation to create the film.

Our only small regret, really, is that as we were completing production of the film, the next generation of videogames were beginning to be unveiled, and with them, even higher-quality assets were being created to match the incredible power of these new machines. Sadly, due to our time and budget considerations, we were unable to boost the quality of our assets to match those of what we knew would soon be seen by the public. But hopefully if we can make a sequel, we can take the characters to the next level!

What impact do you feel a successful home video run will have on a video game sequel?

When we first talked to Sony about the project, we discussed the idea of making a film that would bridge the gap between the first game and a potential sequel. Ultimately we decided that this wouldn’t be satisfying to much of the audience who were likely unfamiliar with the property, so we chose to do a version of the origin story that would be familiar enough for fans of the game to appreciate it, yet different enough (especially at the very end) for them to see where a possible sequel could potentially go.

Since there hasn’t been a Heavenly Sword game for several years, we hope that this film will remind the game fans why they liked the game in the first place (beyond the renowned gameplay, of course!), while introducing a whole new generation of fans to Nariko, Kai, Bohan, Flying Fox and the rest of the stellar cast of characters inhabiting the world of Heavenly Sword. Hopefully this combination will kindle a desire for a sequel to the game (and film, of course). We’re very happy with the final product, but time will tell.

What opportunities do you see CGI opening up for video games?

Really, the sky’s the limit. As the cinematic quality of games continues to improve, as well as the quality of the assets themselves, and as kids grow up into adults who have spent their lives seeing video games as a legitimate storytelling medium, the line between the two will continue to grow thinner, and the two will cross over more and more frequently, until there really will be no difference at all except for the interactivity that a game offers, versus the passive experience of watching a film. And frankly, I wouldn’t even be surprised if that went away eventually and movie watching in itself will become more of an interactive experience.

Are there plans to extend the story with a movie sequel?

We definitely had a sequel in mind when we wrote the ending of the film, so really our fate is in the audience’s hands now. But if we were blessed with the green light, we definitely have plenty of ideas on where the story would go.